Is Jamal Murray playing tonight? Latest Injury Update for Cavaliers vs Nuggets

The All-Star Break is now over, as NBA teams get back to the action tonight. 18 of the league’s 30 teams will play tonight, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, who begin the home stretch at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to host the team with the best record in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets. Will their opponent be at full strength?

Jamal Murray injury update (Updated February 23rd)

Note: This will be updated closer to tip-off at 7:00 pm ET with the official word on Jamal Murray’s injury status.

Nikola Jokic is the current frontrunner for MVP, which would give him three-straight awards. He is expected to suit up tonight to lead the Nuggets. His wingman, Jamal Murray, is more of a question mark.

The seventh-year point guard is currently listed as questionable for tonight’s game for inflammation in his right knee. Murray missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee, and has been sitting out periodically this season to rest both knees.

Playing without Murray would take away much of the Nuggets’ offensive punch. When Murray is on the court Denver’s offense is 6.0 points per 100 possessions better than when he is off, in the 90th percentile leaguewide. He is averaging 20.2 points, 5.8 assists and 2.4 3-pointers per game.

No official word has been provided, although for what it is worth Murray is confident that he will play:

Are other players out injured tonight?

The only player on the Cavaliers’ injury report is Ricky Rubio, who will sit out tonight for left knee injury management. The Cavs should otherwise have their full rotation available, and it will be interesting to see if Raul Neto or Cedi Osman get increased playing time in Rubio’s absence.

For the Nuggets, they are missing another starter in Aaron Gordon, for whom the Nuggets truly don’t have a real replacement. Gordon is their best defensive player and has become a hyper-efficient finisher playing alongside Jokic. Denver will also play without Zeke Nnaji, Collin Gillespie and Jack White, although the latter two are outside of the rotation.

The Cavs will have a better chance to win without Gordon and Murray, but they also will miss the chance to test themselves against one of the other contenders in the league. Slowing down Jokic will be a tall enough task for tonight.